


And in my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside

by blahblahblahcollapse



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Christmas Morning, Fluff, Fluff and more fluff, Kid Fic, Larry as dads, M/M, but really it's just 4k+ of tooth-rotting Christmas themed fluff, minor mention of past angst kind of??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7769893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blahblahblahcollapse/pseuds/blahblahblahcollapse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Just ten more minutes, please, Lou?” Harry’s eyes are all puffy from sleep and his hair is a tangled mess around his shoulders, and the sleepy, pleading grin on his face is simply too much for Louis to resist.<br/>“Oh, alright.” He sighs as if being put out, but quickly deposits their daughter’s medicine on his nightstand before curling up against Harry’s side and resting his head against his husband’s shoulder.<br/>“Happy Christmas, my love.” Harry whispers, craning his neck just slightly to kiss the top of Louis’ head.<br/>“Happy Christmas.” Louis tilts his face upwards to peck Harry on the lips and then settles back into his side, his hand reaching up to stroke Adelaide’s back as they lie there.<br/>The peaceful moment lasts about two minutes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And in my bones I feel the warmth that's coming from inside

**Author's Note:**

> Who would've thought that exceptionally iffy conditions in the 1D fandom would inspire me to dredge up this old half-written fluff piece and complete it. It's my first time posting any fics on here (I'm the worst at actually completing things), and I almost didn't want to post it. But I enjoyed writing it, and I thought that if it could make just one other person smile, it's worth it. :)
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Louis wakes to cold feet pressing into the bare skin of his stomach and the sound of muffled sniffling. He opens his eyes to a head of brown curls, as to be expected, and then pulls away the sheets to see the tiny lump of child curled between himself and Harry. It’s Adelaide, their second eldest; the sniffling continues and Louis feels concern bubble beneath his skin as he reaches a hand down to rub her back.

“Oi, y’alright down there, love?” He whispers. She responds immediately to his hand on her, lifting her head and shuffling upwards to shove her face into the crook of his neck.

“I don’t feel good, daddy.” She replies, sniffling into his skin.

“I can hear that, love.” He strokes her hair soothingly. “Why don’t you stay here with papa and I’ll go get you some medicine.”  
“Don’t leave!” she curls her little fists around his shoulders in an attempt to keep him in place.

“Well, I can’t get your medicine from here, love.” Louis chuckles.

“It’s warm…” she says, her plea coming out so pathetic that it makes Louis’ heart constrict a bit in his chest.

“You won’t go cold, love, I promise you that. Papa’s like a human furnace…” Louis reaches a hand out to tap the sleeping lump in front of them. “Haz, babe, wake up.” Harry lets out a low groan and shifts around a little before going still again.

“Papa!” Adelaide practically shrieks from Louis’ neck and Harry bolts up instantly.

“Now there’s a superpower if I ever saw one.” Louis looks from Harry down to their daughter and back again, chuckling quietly to himself.

“What’s going on?” Harry blinks at them with wide eyes, voice gravelly with sleep, taking in the scene before him.

“Can you take this little one? I need to get her medicine.” Louis asks, guiding Adelaide from her place against his chest into Harry’s arms.

“Are you feeling poorly?” Harry coos as he lays back down and lets her sprawl out over his chest and stomach. She nods into his throat, where her snotty little nose is pressed against the warm skin there. Harry strokes her back soothingly, kissing the top of her head and humming quietly to her. Louis returns a moment later, two different bottles of medicine and a sippy cup of water in hand.

“Alright, love, up we go,” he says as he climbs back onto the bed. Harry sits up slowly, holding Adelaide close to his chest. She fusses a bit as he turns her around, her little body falling back against his chest in defeat as she blinks up at Louis groggily.

“Just make the snifflies stop, daddy.” She whines and Harry tries his best not to let out a little whine of his own at how pathetic she sounds.

“That’s the plan,” Louis nods, pulling the little dropper out of the first bottle and checking it to make sure it has the proper amount of fluid. He feeds her the medicine, which makes her nose scrunch up in disgust, but she swallows and opens her mouth to show that it’s all gone.

“That’s my good girl.” Harry coos in her ear, stroking her hair comfortingly as she tucks her face back into his chest.

“One more, love.” Louis nudges her gently and she moves her head just enough to accept the second dropper into her mouth. She gulps down the medicine and retreats once more. Her head of soft black curls burrows in between the swallows on Harry’s chest, covering the five tiny fledgelings that form a line between the two larger birds, each one representing their children. Louis makes to get out of bed again but Harry’s fingers curl around his wrist, directing his attention back to them.

“Just ten more minutes, please, Lou?” Harry’s eyes are all puffy from sleep and his hair is a tangled mess around his shoulders, and the sleepy, pleading grin on his face is simply too much for Louis to resist.

“Oh, alright.” He sighs as if being put out, but quickly deposits their daughter’s medicine on his nightstand before curling up against Harry’s side and resting his head against his husband’s shoulder.

“Happy Christmas, my love.” Harry whispers, craning his neck just slightly to kiss the top of Louis’ head.

“Happy Christmas.” Louis tilts his face upwards to peck Harry on the lips and then settles back into his side, his hand reaching up to stroke Adelaide’s back as they lie there.

The peaceful moment lasts about two minutes.

The pitter patter of little feet on the hardwood floors interrupts their quiet, followed swiftly by three more little bodies jumping up onto the bed and clamoring for their fathers’ attention.

“It’s Christmas!” “Happy Christmas!” “WHEN CAN WE OPEN PRESENTS?!” And following the loud exclamations comes the wailing from the crib across from their bed.

“So much for the quiet, eh?” Harry teases as the twins, Marcus and Damien, bounce up and down on the bed.

“HAPPY CHRISTMAS INDEED!” Louis shrieks in return and just like that, he’s bouncing up out of their cocoon, tackling their sons in a tickle fight that has them squealing even louder. Harry hugs Adelaide closer to his chest protectively as she covers her ears. Moira, their eldest, is cooing at the crib, dropping the side down so she can reach in and retrieve their newest addition to the family, Darcy.

“Oi, s’okay, lovely.” She whispers as she bounces up and down rhythmically to calm her baby sister. “You’ll get used to it, I promise.”

“DADDY STOP!” Damien shrieks from the foot of the bed and Louis lets up on his tickling assault as both boys begin wheezing with how hard they’re laughing. He sits back on his heels and waits as the raucous laughter subsides from where they lie sprawled out on their backs, their breathing slowly evening out.

“Oh Ra-ra, babe, let’s keep Darcy away from Addie right now,” Harry advises as Moira joins everyone on the bed. “Don’t want her catching whatever this is.”  
“Okay, papa.” Moira nods, retreating to the foot of the bed, next to the boys.

“C’mere, love.” Louis reaches an arm out toward them and Moira settles in beside him.

“Addie’s sick, dad?” Marcus sits up and looks from Louis to Harry.

“Yes, love,” Louis nods. “She’s got a bad case of snifflies, I’m afraid.”

“But it’s Christmas.” Marcus protests, as if the fact alone is enough to cure her.

“I know!” Louis exclaims. “The injustice!”  
“What’s in-just-us?” Damien asks from where he’s still lying on his back, his head turned to look at his dad.

“Means something just isn’t fair.” Harry answers for Louis.

“Like when Ra-Ra gets to stay up an extra hour?” Marcus pouts from where he’s sitting next to his brother.

“That’s cause I’m older, Marc, it’s not unfair.” Moira protests, and Marcus sticks his tongue out at her in response.

“Oi, none of that, now.” Louis reprimands, shaking his head and making a little ‘tsk’ noise with his tongue. “Honestly, who taught you that?”

“You do it to papa all the time.” Marcus says matter-of-factly. Louis’ mouth gapes open in mock-offense as he looks over at Harry for assistance, but his husband is just laughing like he’s never heard anything more hilarious.

“Kids are like sponges, Lou.” Harry manages to get out and Louis reaches out to swat at his leg, sticking his tongue out at him briefly before turning back to Marcus.

“You’re right, Marc.” He says, smiling at their son; normally he would cause more of a ruckus defending himself, but he can’t be bothered today. It’s Christmas, for crying out loud.

“But papa knows that I do it as a way of teasing him,” he explains to the boy. “I don’t do it to be mean or because I’m actually angry or upset with him. Do you understand the difference?”  
“I think so…” Marcus nods, guilt altering his expression into a little pout.

“It’s okay, buddy. I know I haven’t set the best example, and that’s why I’m explaining it to you now.” He continues, knowing it’s important to reinforce these things with his children at a young age. “You’re not in trouble, love. I just want you to understand that we have to be mindful of how our actions affect others, ‘cause our actions can hurt sometimes. Everyone makes mistakes and hurts the ones they love from time to time, there’s no avoiding that. But it’s up to us to recognize it and make it right by apologizing and changing how we respond the next time around. Okay?”

“Okay.” Marcus nods again, and turns to Moira. “I’m sorry for doing the mean thing at you, Moira.”

“S’okay, Marky.” Moira smiles at him, and he smiles back. He scoots closer to his sisters and looks down adoringly at Darcy, running a little hand over the top of her head and making the same cooing sound that Harry always does when he holds any of their children.

“That’s a good lad.” Louis grins, patting Marcus on the back and glancing up at Harry, who’s watching him with something akin to utter adoration. It makes his insides melt a bit.

“Paaaaaaapaaa, I’m hungry.” Damien whines.

“You are, are you?” Harry grins at their other son. “Whatever shall we do about that?”  
“Feeeeeeed me!” the boy continues to whine, but he’s grinning like he knows just how adorable he is and how to use it to his advantage. He definitely gets that from Louis, and Louis couldn’t be prouder.

“I think daddy should make breakfast for us.” Harry shrugs, laughing as it elicits a groan from every single person on the bed, including Louis. Damien and Marcus start talking over each other, supplying examples of why that’s a bad idea, and Louis doesn’t even look offended by it, just nodding along defenselessly.

“Okay, okay!” Harry laughs for a moment more before putting up his hands to stop the boys. “I guess I can make us breakfast. Lou, can you take Addie?” Louis climbs up the bed to where they’re sat and reaches out to take the little girl from his husband. Adelaide makes a pathetic little whining noise at being jostled about, but quickly wraps her arms around Louis’ neck and lays her head on his shoulder, blinking wearily at her siblings as they watch from the other side of the bed.

“Does she need more medicine, daddy?” Moira asks, ever the mother hen of the brood.

“She’s had her medicine already, love.” Louis shakes his head at their eldest. “She just needs to take it easy for the day.”

“Okay.” Moira nods, then turns to Marcus and whispers something in his ear. Whatever she says seems to perk him up and he grabs Damien by the wrist shouting “C’mon, Damien!” and disappearing down the hall, toward the living room. Harry and Louis simultaneously raise an eyebrow at Moira, and she just shrugs, a slight blush dusting her cheeks and a grin on her face.

“Better start on breakfast.” Harry lets out a deep sigh, but Louis knows it’s put-on. Harry loves making breakfast for his family, especially on holidays. He touches Harry’s elbow lightly to get his attention in a silent request and receives a peck on the lips, dimples popping out of his husband’s cheeks as they smile at each other.

“Ra-ra, c’mon, love, let’s get miss Darcy her bottle. You can feed her while I work on breakfast.” Harry climbs out of the bed and heads out of their room, Moira following close behind. Louis lays back against the mountain of pillows piled up against their headboard, Adelaide clinging to him sleepily, and listens to the faint sounds of activity in the living room and kitchen. This is their tenth Christmas as fathers, the eighteenth Christmas he and Harry have spent together, and he keeps waiting for the magic of it to wear off, but it just hasn’t yet. He wakes up most mornings wondering how in the hell he ever got so lucky. Sure, things haven’t always been perfect between them. There were plenty of times where one of them threatened to leave the other or just felt they couldn’t hold on anymore. Eighteen years is a long time, they’ve both grown up and changed so much, but they never really grew away from each other. And Louis thinks that’s why it always worked out in the end. No matter how difficult things got, they always came back to each other, like two magnets that couldn’t be separated. When they were forced into the closet, forced to pretend they hardly knew the others’ name, forced to pretend they were in love with other people, it nearly ended them during their third worldwide tour, but Harry fought harder and clung tighter when Louis wanted to give up, and vice versa. When Mark was diagnosed with cancer eleven years ago and Louis went back home to the UK for eight months to be by his side Harry couldn’t come out more than a small handful of times because of his own work commitments. That was the longest time they’d spent apart since they met, and it was rough on both of them, but in the end Mark had pulled through and Harry was by Louis’ side to celebrate that victory. When Moira came into their lives, just three years old and needing all the love they could give her, it was an adjustment to focus their attention on someone new in their lives. They spent several months at each other's’ throats over how best to raise her, how to deal with her tantrums and come to terms with the way having her changed the dynamics of their relationship and life forever. When Harry was offered a role in a film that would take him away from their family for six months, just a year after the twins were born, Louis told him to do it even though he had no idea how to hold down a fort of three wild kids all by himself. Louis truly almost broke that time. Nothing quite like sleep deprivation and severe stress to make you snap and leave angry, threatening voicemail messages on your husband’s phone at three in the morning as you’re loading the washer with vomit-covered bed sheets for the third time that week. But Harry came home after those six months, with reservations at a private spa for just the two of them, Uncle Niall and Aunt Claire in tow to watch after the kids for a weekend.

So, yeah, there had been some rough patches through-out all those years. But in the end neither man ever had reason to doubt the others’ desire to do whatever they could to make it all okay again. Compromise was something they learned early on and it saved them in a lot of those instances. The constant give and take of their relationship was a rhythm they had grown accustomed to over the years. When Harry had new opportunities, Louis was there to pat him on the back and say “Go for it!” And when Louis was fed up with juggling his work life and being a dad, Harry was there to take on the extra responsibility so Louis could focus on work for a while. They made sacrifices for each other, for their kids, and in the end Louis couldn’t possibly imagine a better life than the one they had together.

All of these things ran through his mind as he held his little Adelaide tightly in his arms, humming bits of a new song he was helping produce with one of their label’s top artists, and in that moment everything felt warm and right.

“Daddy!” Marcus’ voice bellowed from the living room, followed shortly by Damien’s head popping around the doorframe.

“Breakfast is ready! And Marky and I have a surprise for Addie!” the boy says in one exhale, jumping up and down excitedly.

“A surprise, eh?” Louis grins, shifting his weight gently to climb out of the bed and then whispering in Adelaide’s ear. “D’you hear that, Addie? Your brothers have a surprise for you.”

“I like surprises.” Adelaide croaks out, lifting her head slightly to glance over at her brother.

“C’mon, then!” Damien squeals and leads the way out into the living room. When they round the corner and Louis catches a glimpse of what they’ve done, he can’t help the giant smile that forms on his lips. In the corner, beside their tree all surrounded by presents and decked out with handmade ornaments, is a little nest made up of Adelaide’s duvet and every pillow from her bed and the couches.

“Addie, look, we made you a nest so you can rest and still see all the presents!” Marcus explains, excitedly bouncing up and down on his toes. Adelaide looks down at their surprise and her eyes go wide with excitement. She fidgets until Louis can lay her down in it, and then curls up under her favourite blanket, which the boys had placed beside the nest for her.

“Boys, this was a lovely surprise.” He smiles over at his sons, and they’re preening under the praise. “Thank you.”

“It was Ra-ra’s idea.” Damien says.

“She’s a good egg, that one, ain’t she?” Louis looks back at Adelaide who looks nothing short of delighted.

“Daddy, where’s Zed?” she asks quietly.

“Did you bring him with you into our room this morning?” Louis asks, staying crouched down at her side and running gentle fingers through her curls.

“Maybe?” her eyebrows are furrowed, her expression perplexed, and Louis finds it too adorable. He leans over and kisses her forehead before standing up and going to find her favourite stuffed animal, Zed the Zebra. He finds it under their duvet, at the very foot of the bed, and Adelaide clutches it to her chest as soon as he hands it to her.

“I’m going to go check on papa and breakfast. You tell your brothers if you need anything, okay? And don’t forget to thank them for your surprise; your sister, too.” He kisses her forehead again and stands up.

“Okay.” She nods and curls up tighter with her zebra, looking up at the tree and all the presents beneath it curiously. The boys crowd around her and start talking about how many presents each of them has; of course they’ve already counted them. Louis makes his way into the kitchen to find Harry plating the last of their Christmas morning fry-up, back facing Louis as he stands at the hob. Moira is perched on the bench in the bay window where their kitchen table sits, holding Darcy over her shoulder and patting her back gently to get her to burp. Louis walks up behind Harry and wraps his arms around his husband’s waist, placing a kiss on his bare back, right between his shoulder blades.

“Almost ready, love.” Harry says, reaching up a hand to pat at Louis’ arms across his stomach.

“Smells delicious.” Louis says into his back, reaching up to pinch his left nipple as soon as Harry’s set down the hot frying pan.

“Oi!” Harry shrieks, giggling and turning around to glare at his ridiculous husband. “You never fight fair, do you?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Louis grins, nipping at Harry’s chin playfully and then trying to pull away.

“Oh no, not so fast, you menace.” Harry pulls him closer and leans down like he’s going to whisper in his ear, but instead Louis feels the warmth and wetness of a tongue in his ear and he lets out an equally embarrassing squeal, attempting to extricate himself from Harry’s hold as his husband starts biting playfully at his ear and refuses to let go.

“Harry, c’mon!” Louis is laughing, pushing his hands against Harry’s chest but Harry just giggles into his ear and bites down one more time before letting Louis out of his grip.

“You guys are so weird…” Moira rolls her eyes from where she sits at the table, watching them. She’s at that age now where everything they do is subject to her fierce scrutiny, but Louis chooses to translate it all as “I love you, but I want to be cool and you’re embarrassing me.” It helps curb the sass he would otherwise throw right back at her.

“Feeling left out?” Louis grins, stalking over to her and blowing a raspberry on her cheek before she can protest.

“Daaaaaaad!” She wails, reaching a hand up to wipe at her cheek and trying to maintain a look of utter disgust even though he can see a small grin on her lips.  
“Okay, okay,” Harry laughs from his place by the hob. “How’s about you hand over your sister to me and help daddy take breakfast out to the tree?” Moira rolls her eyes at Louis, who’s just grinning at her like he won something, but the glare doesn’t last long as she gets up to hand Darcy over to Harry. Louis loads her up with three plates, and grabs the remaining three, following her out into the living. Harry lets Darcy rest in the crook of his right arm and carries the cups and a bottle of orange juice in his left, flipping off the kitchen light on his way out so the only light in the living room comes from the tree. They all sit around the tree in a semi-circle, tucking into their food silently as Moira puts on a playlist of Christmas-themed music.

After everyone’s finished eating, Louis takes their empty plates back to the kitchen while Damien and Marcus play the role of Santa, doling out presents until the tree is bare and everyone has a sizable stack in front of them. In the ten years that they’ve been doing this, they’ve tried numerous ways of opening presents on Christmas morning. When it was just Moira, they let her have at it with no restraint; with just one kid it was easy to take as many pictures of her reactions to the various gifts as they wanted, all of their attention solely on her. Once the boys were born and then Adelaide entered the picture, they started trying to be more organized about it, letting each kid open a present in succession until they had opened everything. No one really liked that, and little kids grow impatient when they have to sit through five other people opening presents before they’re allowed to open their own. So they’ve finally settled on just letting the kids open their presents as they please, and saving maybe one or two really special ones to open when they can actually pay attention to their individual reactions.

The whole thing is over in fifteen minutes flat, and everyone’s excitedly showing each other what they got, brightly coloured wrapping paper and glittery bags littering the floor alongside bits and pieces of packaging from the toys they’ve already opened up to play with. Adelaide is sitting quietly in her little nest, playing with the plastic animal figurines Moira had given her, Louis lying beside her and playing with her. There’s an evil toad that’s captured the horse king and an antelope named Freya is tasked with saving him alongside their band of friends, a giraffe named Gerard, a monkey named Phil, and a rhino named Cleo. It’s all very dramatic and Adelaide giggles when Louis does the different voices for each character he’s been tasked with playing.

They spend several hours just hanging out around the tree, snacking on Christmas treats and playing with their new gadgets and toys. By lunchtime, Adelaide has fallen asleep, and Darcy is fussing for another bottle, so Louis sends Moira and the boys out to the backyard to play with their new remote controlled helicopter and preps a bottle for Darcy. He finds Harry curled up in his favourite corner of the couch, Darcy fussing quietly in his arms as he tries to calm her. He sits down at Harry’s side, handing over the bottle and letting his husband get settled before leaning into his side, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder and cooing at Darcy as she hiccups a few times before she manages to get the milk from the bottle into her mouth. He reaches a finger out to brush a tear from her cheek, and then brushes his thumb over the bridge of her nose soothingly.

“I like this one, Harold, I think we should keep her.” He whispers.

“Shit, I was just about to start looking for that receipt.” Harry responds flatly. “Y’know they require those for returns.” Louis lets out a little laugh and presses his face into Harry’s shoulder to stifle it.

“Too bad.” He says, glancing back down at their littlest one fondly. “I’m keeping her. You can sod right off.” Harry hums and haws, as if he’s considering it, then shuffles a little as if preparing to get up and leave. Louis grips his arm tightly to keep him in place, turning to bite at his husband’s shoulder in a silent threat. Harry lets out a little squeak, relaxing back against the couch.

“I guess we did promise for better or worse…” He says, surrendering.

“Fuck you.” Louis laughs into his shoulder.

“Hey, Lou…” Harry says, and his voice is softer this time.

“Yes, love?” Louis looks up, big green eyes looking adoringly down at him.

“I love you.” Harry says, and Louis wonders if there will ever be a time that such a proclamation won’t leave him feeling giddy and warm inside. It’s been eighteen years of I Love You’s and it seems like it should just be a simple fact by now, but it always leaves him a bit breathless; especially in quiet moments like these, when he can really feel how much Harry means it. And his own love for this man overwhelms him and spills out of him like it makes up every part of his being.

“I love you, too.” He whispers back and places a kiss on his husband’s lips. It’s warm, soft, familiar, and filled to the brim with the knowledge that, at the end of the day, they’ll always choose each other. They’ve fought hard for the life they share, and the beautiful family that they have, and there’s no way they’ll ever give it up.

_Happy Christmas, indeed._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Emma (@lads-laddylads on tumblr) for being my beta on this. She's the best! :)
> 
> I'm not super involved in the 1D fandom anymore (too much stress), but if you want to say Hi or whatever on the tumblr, I promise I don't bite! - http://blahblahblahcollapse.tumblr.com/


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